Generation W: An Interview with Wattpad Author Leng de Chavez

In the past, people would have to go to brick-and-mortar libraries or bookstores whenever they wanted to read a book. But in this age of Facebook and Twitter, the new breed of readers can, with just a few taps and swipes on their smartphones and tablets, immerse themselves in a new novel (or two) without even leaving the comfort of their seats.

Welcome to the Wattpad era.

Created by a Canada-based company, Wattpad is an online community that connects people around the world through the written word. Through the website, Wattpad users can create their own stories, get feedback and comments from their readers and directly interact with other authors and users.

And did we mention that stories from Wattpad are free and can be read whether you’re online or offline? Yep, you read that right!

Recently, Wattpad has taken our country by storm. It is now becoming a platform for aspiring authors, especially young writers, to showcase their stories. And if you’re lucky, you can even get your big break through Wattpad.

Some stories by Filipino Wattpad writers have been published by local publishing companies like Summit Media and PSICOM Publishing. And quite a few have also been adapted into movies and television shows. (Do Diary ng Panget and She’s Dating the Gangster ring any bells?)

Leng de Chavez is among the several who have published their work and gained a substantial following. And weare glad to have been given the chance to talk to her about her passion for writing and how joining Wattpad changed her life.

Leng de Chavez is a 21-year-old BS Human Ecology major at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. She says: “Hindi writing-related yung course ko, HAHAHAHA! Passion ko lang talaga ang pagsusulat. [My course isn’t writing-related. But writing is really my passion.]” Her published works include The Despicable Guy and If I Fall. Tweet her @lengsungit.

(The first story that became popular on Wattpad was The Despicable Guy Book 1.

I’m not really after success when it comes to writing. All I want to do is write and make people happy [or sometimes sad]. All my stories are successful in their own right.

Of course it’s hard to surpass TDG’s success because that’’s what got my name out there. But it’s not my goal to have my stories compete with one another [when it comes to success]. I’m already beyond grateful that there is an audience anticipating and reading them.)

Right now, some Wattpad stories have been turned into movies. Has TDG been optioned for a movie? Are you open to it?

(Denny, author of HaveYouSeenThisGirl, recommended TDG to Summit Media last year. I couldn’t believe it when I got an email from them. At the time, only a few [Wattpad] stories had been published so it was a pretty big deal.)

When books are published, it’s inevitable that the stories will be edited, and sometimes authors are a bit protective with their original stories. Was there a moment when you had second thoughts?

The book turned out better than I expected. Mas maganda pala siya ‘pag English!

(With TDG Book 1, I overhauled the entire story myself. It was already three years old before it got picked up for publishing and there were a lot of parts I wanted to change. There were times when I hesitated but I had faith in my editor’s ability to improve the story.

The book turned out better than I expected. It’s actually better in English!)

(I wanted to publish If I Fall before TDG and had been planning on how I’d do that since late 2012. I’m more protective over If I Fall than TDG which is why I decided to self-publish. I wanted to have control over the book covers and stuff. And at first, I didn’t think If I Fall would gain readers if I published it traditionally like TDG.)

(Summit Media took care of publishing TDG so it was easier for me. With IIF, I handled everything. From editing to shipping the books.

With TDG, the marketing, selling and branding was all easy peasy. It’s also easier to find in bookstores and stands. But on the flipside, I had very little say on the process, especially on the book cover.

As for IIF, it’s a lot more personalized. We mulled over the cover and layout for a long time. But it was tiring and required hard work because I was still the one who shipped books to buyers.)

6 replies on “Generation W: An Interview with Wattpad Author Leng de Chavez”

Hello BookBed! I’m glad you’ve done interviews like this. Leng De Chavez is one of my favorite Wattpad authors.
It would be such joy if you could have the chance to have an interview with Jonah Pacala (Jonaxx). She is the first Filipina Wattpad writer to garner more than 3M votes! Her most notable piece is the “Until Trilogy”. (Until He Was Gone, Until He Returned, and Until Forever). I hope you could have the time reading this and also make a review. Thank you and have a nice day!!! 🙂

Thank you for dropping by and reading our review! We’re definitely checking the Until Trilogy — in fact, we’ve just registered on Wattpad! Just a thought, would you like to write about the Until Trilogy? We’d love to have you on board! 🙂

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Bookbed started as an online secondhand bookstore in 2010. Four years later, it grew into the community that it is today. We have a core team of six and around 120 contributors and volunteers from different parts of the Philippines and the world. Over the years, we have worked with readers, bloggers, published authors, aspiring writers, artists, advocacy groups, schools, communities, brands, bookstores, book cafes and government agencies. We believe that reading shapes dreams, and dreams shape lives. ☁